Troops destroy 10 Tiger bunker bases: 33 killed

Sri Lanka's military said yesterday it had smashed at least 10 Tamil Tiger bunker positions in an offensive in the far north of the island that left 28 rebels and five government soldiers dead.
The fighting occurred Sunday on the Jaffna peninsula, the government-held northern tip of the island, as well as elsewhere in the north along frontlines with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a defence official said.
He said a total of 28 Tiger rebels were killed and more were wounded. Security forces lost five soldiers and another five were wounded.
There was no immediate word from the Tigers.
The government also carried out fresh air raids Monday, with three rebel speedboats reported destroyed in the coastal Alampil area. The defence ministry gave no details of casualties.
The air force carried out a similar raid on Saturday against what the defence ministry described as a flotilla of Tiger boats, but the guerrillas said the aerial attack had been on a village rebuilt after the December 2004 tsunami.
Security forces have killed at least 2,947 rebels since the start of January while 180 government soldiers have died in action during the same period, according to defence ministry figures.